Moments on the Rooftop
by Slippedthroughmyfingers
Summary: Steve, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, Natasha, and even Loki share the one place where they can feel at peace. Team fic.


_My very first fic! Yeah, so I'm pretty late coming into this fandom, but better late than never, right? Please excuse any mistakes; they're all mine. And also, I don't own these characters. They're Marvel's._

_Hope you enjoy._

* * *

When Steve is at the top of Stark Tower, his feet dangling over the edge as he sits behind the railing, he can't help but feel mixed emotions. Mixed because New York is a great subject to sketch, especially from this angle, and because this new, technological city is yet another thing he wouldn't be able to share with Peggy, or Bucky, or even Howard. He still can't get over the fact that everyone he knew is gone, and how long it's taking him to catch up to the rest of the world. If he wants to catch up to the rest of the world. He should be dead too, shouldn't he?

He leans forward and stares intently over the ledge through the rails, then abruptly shakes his head and leans back. People care for him, people need him. What would his actions say about Captain America? Hell, what would they say about Steve Rogers? He runs his hand through his hair with an almost embarrassed smile aimed at no one, and starts to decide if wants to sketch New York or give Tony some of his own medicine by pulling a prank where he paints the bird's-eye view of the city on his suit.

* * *

Tony tends to avoid the top of his tower, because one, there's nothing to actually _do_ up there (except maybe romantic dinners if he's trying to earn a favor) and two, he can /fly/. He doesn't need to go to the top of the tower to get a nice view of the Big Apple.

But sometimes, when the workshop gets a bit stuffy and everyone is pissed off because of his endless jokes, he goes to the roof at night to unwind. And he breathes in the dirty air, and looks out at the city. He thinks of things people have done for him and things he's done for people and he wonders, while staring up at the barely-there stars, if his dad would be proud of him.

* * *

Really, Bruce doesn't even know why he's in New York sometimes. It can't be the lights, the sounds, or the attitudes. Hell, he asked for a stress-_free_ environment, not a stress-_inducing_ one. He really needs to learn that no, no matter how much Tony says it, Tony does _not_ know best.

So, whenever he stays at New York, he tends to stay cooped up in Stark Tower. When he does go out, it's to the Tower's roof. He likes spending either dawn or dusk there, because the sky is pink and orange and other pastels, and it's pretty. The sounds of the bustling city are only a distant buzz from this height, and he likes to see that even though this place is crazy and dangerous, it's nice as a whole.

When he heads off to India or Ethiopia or Haiti, he tries to ignore how much he misses the feeling of sitting on the rooftop; and when he comes back to New York, he tries to ignore Tony's knowing smiles. They're starting to become a little too much.

* * *

It's Bruce that offhandedly notes Clint doesn't really stay in the tower when he's there but on the rooftop. Clint just shrugs it off and changes the subject the same way he always does when he doesn't want to talk about something: some type of contest. Who can burp the loudest, who can find Waldo the fastest, who can make the best lasagna, and just last week they even played who can drink the most (which Steve won and Tony sulked about because of unfair advantages).

After the contest Clint tends to slink away and make his way to the rooftop. Up to his nest. He doesn't do much up there, just reflects on things like circuses, Natasha, Budapest, and Coulson. And while he reflects, he watches. Watches people he's meant to protect, watches people he won't be able to protect. He watches for threats to the Tower, too, even though he's been told many times that that's already covered. He likes to think of himself as the _actual_ guard for his team (as if a security system had better eyes than he did).

But most of all, he watches for hope, for any sign of hope, because there has to be some shred of the thing here. He just has to find it.

* * *

Thor doesn't particularly like the top of Stark Tower. (He doesn't care about the height, of course not, he flies around with Mjolnir constantly.) Regardless, he climbs up there every now and again, and goes up to the railings, looking down at the city. No, it's not the height.

It's how it reminds him of fighting with Loki on the same tower not all too long ago. Of plummeting down to the ground encased in a near-indestructible cage, the same cage they put Loki in. Of holding onto his brother one moment, and then watching him fall into endless space, knowing he couldn't do anything to save him.

It's not the height that gets him, but the heavy feeling of regret that settles, somehow, in his heart and on his shoulders at the same time, and that he hoped to never feel, no matter how long he lived. And how, even now, he can't blame or hate his brother nearly as much as everyone else seems to.

* * *

Natasha's go-to places for relaxing are, unsurprisingly, the training room, and, surprisingly, the dance room. One to build up the body and quicken the mind, the other to quicken the body and build up the mind. After Steve's suggestion to check out the view from the roof of the tower, though, she's added that to her list of relaxing places.

True relaxation isn't as unwarranted as she once thought. She likes to lie on her back and just stay that way when the weather is nice, letting the sun heat any patch of skin its rays can reach; or, if it's raining, sitting cross-legged and having the rain soak her to the bone and feeling her wet hair stick to her face.

The roof of Stark Tower is different than anywhere else in the world, because she can, momentarily, ease the tension of survival, the reason being that there are people she trusts, friends, that live in the Tower and will protect her, or at least warn her of danger. The rooftop is the only place where she goes and stops working, stops thinking, stops fighting and lets the world do what it will to her, a Russian-turned-American agent that has a past that any criminal would be disturbed by. She stops _being_ when she's on that rooftop, and it only makes her stronger when she has to snap back into herself again and face the world.

* * *

It's Thor that suggests Loki join the Avengers, and, surprisingly (or maybe not all too surprisingly) it's Steve that backs him up after a day's thought. He says a speech that includes the words redemption and second chances and looks each team member in the eyes and, one by one, they realize his point.

It's a reluctant partnership on both sides; SHIELD is hesitant about accepting a known threat as a member of the Avengers, and Loki, given his experiences, doesn't know if the pathetic group of mortals and his brother are stringing him along in some plot or if they're just more stupid than he assumed.

It's Tony that shows him around the Tower, and Loki can't help but admire the intelligence and wit of the inventor. It's surprisingly nice to be able to verbally spar with someone and not lose interest.

Bruce is the one who starts teaching Loki about the world of science. Some days, they both sit in the lab with a box of pizza, and instead of Loki being the student, he is the teacher, and those are the days Loki likes best.

Oddly enough, Natasha is the one who takes him out to buy clothes and food, and tells him that, no, he cannot know about her past, but yes, he is welcome to talk to her if he wants to.

After weeks, he is approached by Clint and gruffly given a proposition to go onto the rooftop, and up there, Clint is the one who tells him he is forgiven. Loki doesn't need to be in the archer's mind to know he is thinking about everything that has transgressed between them, and even though he shouldn't feel anything at all, his throat constricts and his eyes string with tears. Clint's gaze changes, and he leaves the roof.

Loki is left to look out into the evening horizon while he thinks about his not-father, his not-brother, his throne, his actions, his motives, his punishments, and now, his forgiveness. And he thinks that maybe, just maybe, he isn't a worthless monster after all.

* * *

When Tony makes a Star Wars reference that Steve and Thor don't understand ("These are not the drinks that you are looking for."), his jaw drops and he instantly ushers everyone into the living room to marathon said movies. There's a moment where everyone wonders how Loki understands the reference yet Thor doesn't, but Loki just smirks and Thor pats his brother on the back, exclaiming that even in mundane things like movies, his brother has to know everything. To which Loki makes an Emperor's New Groove reference ("No touchy, noooo touchy.") and Tony announces that the Disney movie is also a must see; it's only Loki who shakes his belief by commenting on how alike a certain inventor and Kuzco are.

After the second Star Wars movie, everyone decides to watch the rest tomorrow night, and retire to their rooms. But, unbeknownst to each member, each one makes their own way up to the roof and awkwardly meet each other on the top of Stark Tower. It's a long moment before any of them say anything, but then Tony breaks the silence with a smile and a comment on how he needs to improve his tower if everyone wants to spend time on its roof rather than one of its pools or something.

There are chuckles and shrugs before they all situate themselves to sit in a circle and begin talking about anything that crosses their minds. Then Steve asks what Harry Potter is and why so many people use it to insult Twilight, which sets Tony and Bruce off while the others laugh and comment on their rant.

It's interesting; none have ever been on the roof before unless they were by themselves. But now? Now it's a little nicer to know that they'll always have someone else to bring up there.

* * *

_Jeeze, I used so many line breaks. Well, tell me what you guys think, please! I need to get better at this._


End file.
